Sweet, creamy, and full of flavor: this Homemade Banana Cream Pie is everything you want the classic dessert to be, and it’s surprisingly easy to make at home!

We spent the week before last in Anaheim so, as is customary when before we go out of town, I looked around the kitchen and took mental inventory of the food I needed to use before we left. We had bananas on the counter and heavy cream in the fridge, and I’d been planning to get Banana Cream Pie up on the blog. Perfect!

Of course, we didn’t need an entire Banana Cream Pie – or even more than a slice or two. Luckily, there seems to be no shortage of people I can text with the offer of free pie. There’s always someone willing to take one off my hands, and they don’t even mind if I’ve removed a slice or two for photo (and tasting) purposes.

I am so happy I made time to share this recipe with y’all. You could definitely use a store-bought graham cracker crust, but homemade is easy and tasty. The same goes for the pie filling; store-bought banana pudding mix will do in a pinch, but it can’t compare to the flavors you’ll develop with my homemade version. And, of course, homemade whipped cream is ten times better than anything you’ll find in a tub at the grocery store.

Banana bread protein bites are full of big banana flavor and filling protein. No gluten, dairy, or added sugar here!

I used to make energy bites pretty often, way back before we had kids. I made homemade granola bars, too. It was a period when we had more time than money and I enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, discovering homemade versions of store-bought favorites. The energy bites and granola bars I made were a hit, but sometime around baby number two’s arrival, it just became easier to buy that type of thing.

Fast forward to now. We just welcomed baby number three, but that hasn’t deterred my desire to feed my family more homemade snacks and fewer processed ones. For J and the kids, I want something they enjoy eating and don’t necessarily recognize as healthy. For myself, I want nutritious, calorie-dense snacks that give me the boost I need while nursing.

That’s where these banana bread protein bites come in. First, they’re gluten-free (assuming your oats are). They don’t contain dairy or added sugar and, aside from the honey and peanut butter, they get their sweetness mostly from the ripe bananas. The bites themselves aren’t overly-sweet; they won’t be confused with a dessert, but they’re also unlikely to be turned down by my toddlers.

Better for you triple chocolate banana bread has no butter, oil, or added sugar- except for the chocolate, of course- while still delivering big on flavor. With sweet, moist bananas and three kinds of chocolate, this bread tastes decadently indulgent.

Several years ago, when we were still living in Oregon, I had a favorite better for you banana bread recipe. When we came back from the beach a couple weeks ago with several overripe bananas, I went in search of that recipe, only to discover that the website had been removed.

Removed.

The author of my absolute favorite all-time best ever better for your banana bread deleted her blog without consulting me. The nerve.

Not to be deterred, I decided I was up to the challenge of re-creating the recipe. After all, I’ve made my share of quick breads– a lot of quick breads– and I remembered the basics of the original recipe.

It took two tries to get things just right, but I had no shortage of willing recipe testers. My sources tell me that this one is a keeper.